Atonement Newsletter Num. 17

Editorial

The World Ends Every Day

In the Gospel of Matthew, Ch 13, it is written:

Expound to us the parable of the cockle of the field. [37] Who made answer and said to them: He that soweth the good seed, is the Son of man. [38] And the field, is the world. And the good seed are the children of the kingdom. And the cockle, are the children of the wicked one. [39] And the enemy that sowed them, is the devil. But the harvest is the end of the world. And the reapers are the angels. [40] Even as cockle therefore is gathered up, and burnt with fire: so shall it be at the end of the world.

[41] The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity. [42] And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [43] Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

[47] Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a net cast into the sea, and gathering together of all kind of fishes. [48] Which, when it was filled, they drew out, and sitting by the shore, they chose out the good into vessels, but the bad they cast forth. [49] So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall go out, and shall separate the wicked from among the just. [50] And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In these parables Our Lord relates what will happen at the end of time. The souls of the saved will be placed at his right hand and he will say to them: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:32)

The souls of the damned will be placed at his left and he will say to them: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire. (Matthew 25: 41)

From revelaton we know that at the end of time, Christ will come in glory to judge everyone who has ever lived, and that their bodies will arise, some to the resurrection of glory, others to the resurrection of judgment. (John 5)

We do not have to wait until the end of the world to see the parables of separation fulfilled (called parables of separation because two groups are separated, the cockle from the wheat, the good fish from the bad fish, the wise virgins from the foolish virgins, the sheep from the goats, the elect from the reprobate).

Every time that a soul dies and enters into eternity, time is ended for that soul. All his opportunities for choosing between good and evil have ended. He has made his final decision, to be either for Christ or against him, and he or she will face the consequences of that decision for all eternity. When a person dies, time ends for him. The world, with all its vanities, defects and sins, no longer exists for him, it has passed away. Christ the supreme Judge comes in glory to pronounce the sentence. "Come, blessed, or depart, accursed." (Matthew 25).

The soul comes into the courtroom, and the Judge pronounces the sentence: "Well done, good and faithful servant," or "Bind his hands and feet and cast him into the outer darkness."

There are only two sentences: Come, ye blessed, depart, ye accursed.

Only two sides: right side or left side.

Only two conditions: sanctifying grace or mortal sin. Only two conditions: saved or damned.

The coming of Christ to judge the soul is always glorious, no matter whether the soul dies in grace and is saved, or dies in sin and is condemned. Our Lord said to a soul: "Remember, daughter, that I have taught you always that, on the last day of time, My Justice will be exalted and glorified as much by the just who are saved, as by the reprobate who are condemned forever in the eternal fire with the fallen angels." (April, 1970)

The souls of the condemned show forth the perfections of God's justice, unwillingly. The souls of the saved glorify the perfections of God's justice, goodness, mercy and love, willingly, with their whole heart.

In the parables it is written: The son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kngdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity. (Mt. 13). The word angel means messenger. Some examples of messengers who have removed or decreased scandals in the kingdom of God are: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic and St. Vincent Ferrer, who by their preaching and miracles, decreased or removed the scandals, offenses and abuses that existed at that time in the Church. Many saints, apostolic men and women, and fervent, heroic missionaries, have helped to remove scandals and abuses from the Church, the kingdom of God on earth.

Some do not accept, that the kingdom of heaven on earth is the Church. If the kingdom of God is ruled by God, infinitely perfect, then his kingdom must be perfect, without flaw. We know from the parables that the kingdom of God cannot be perfect on earth. The kingdom of God is like a group of ten persons, five are foolish. It is like a net cast into the sea, some of the fish are bad. There are foolish, stupid persons in the kingdom, who make bad decisions. There are bad fish in the kingdom who are going to rot. At the end of time the good fish will be separated from the bad. At the end of time, the door will be shut, and the foolish cannot enter the wedding feast, nor be with the bridegroom. Only the pure can enter into the heavenly city (Apocalypse 21: 27)

St. Augustine wrote in the "City of God," If there cannot be any scandals inside the kingdom of God, then why did Christ teach: they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals (Mt. 13:41)?

Christ said that the kingdom of God would be taken away from the Jews and Pharisees, and given to a people who would produce the fruits of the kingdom. The kingdom of God could not be taken away from them, unless they really possessed it. On Pentecost Sunday the kingdom of God was officially given to the Apostles, and shortly thereafter they preached the gospel to the Gentiles, who produced the fruits of sanctity, that most of the Jews failed to produce.

Eternity Begins Right Now

About 80,000 persons die every day. Today Christ is coming in glory to judge thousands of souls. Today the good fish are being placed into heavenly baskets, and the bad fish are thrown away into the garbage pit of hell.

Today Christ is coming, to gather the wheat into his barns, and to burn the chaff in a furnace, where the worm dies not, nor is the fire quenched. (Mark 9) Today Christ is coming, to cut down the fruitless tree, and cast it into the fire that is not quenched.

Today the supreme Judge, King of kings and Lord of lords, is coming, to sit on his throne of judgment and to separate the sheep from the goats, pronouncing the solemn sentence, Come, ye blessed. Depart, ye cursed.

Today the heavenly Bridegroom is coming, to invite his wise disciples to the heavenly wedding, while the foolish disciples are shut out from the feast, cast into the outer darkness, not having wedding garments, their lamps empty.

Today the poor Lazarus is carried by angels into the bosom of Abraham, and the rich man is buried in hell, being tormented by thirst. He would like to pass over, to be relieved of his torment, but...

And besides all this, between us and you, there is fixed a great chaos: so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot, nor from thence come hither. (Luke 16)

The blessed in Heaven cannot leave it. Who would want to leave a paradise of delights, where all desires of happiness are satisfied to superabundance? The damned in hell would like to leave, to be relieved of their torments, but they cannot: "there is fixed a great chaos". They will remain there for all eternity, as long as God is God. (Apoc. 20:10).

No one knows the day of their death. We do not know when Christ is coming to judge us, to prounounce the sentence. Are you ready to see the end of your world? Are you ready to meet the heavenly Bridegroom and judge, clothed with the garments of sactifying grace and good works, and your lamp filled with oil?

Please pray for those who will die today. Please pray for your own soul, that you will be ready when the Lord comes. Our little world may end sooner than we expect. Blessed are those who are prepared to meet the heavenly Bridegroom, and enter into the feast of everlasting happiness, with all the angels and saints of paradise.

Appendix

The word gehenna refers to a place in Jerusalem where garbage was burned. The souls of the condemned are useless, like trash. There are no birthday anniversaries in hell: the condemned souls weep, "it would be better for me, if I had never been born."

Purgatory. The place of expiation for venial sins is not mentioned in this article. At the end of time, purgatory will cease to exist. The souls there are all saved. Purgatory is a waiting room, while preparing to enter paradise. It is a terribly painful waiting room. It is better to have one's purgatory here on earth, instead of postponing it until hereafter. Why be a coward, when you could be a hero?

• The Last Judgment, by Hans Memling (painting)

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Story Of The Angel Birdies

Throughout our lives we are blessed with spiritual experiences, some of which are very sacred and confidential, and others, although sacred, are meant to be shared.

Last summer my family had a spiritual experience that had a lasting and profound impact on us, one we feel must be shared. It's a message of love.

It's a message of regaining perspective, and restoring proper balance and renewing priorities. In humility, I pray that I might, in relating this story, give you a gift my little son, Brian, gave our family one summer day last year.

On July 22nd, I was enroute to Washington, DC for a business trip. It was all so very ordinary, until we landed in Denver for a plane change. As I collected my belongings from the overhead bin, an announcement was made for Mr. Lloyd Glenn to see the United Customer Service Representative immediately.

I thought nothing of it until I reached the door to leave the plane and I heard a gentleman asking every male if they were Mr. Glenn. At this point I knew something was wrong and my heart sunk. When I got off the plane a solemn-faced young man came toward me ands aid, "Mr. Glenn, there is an emergency at your home. I do not know what the emergency is or who is involved, but I will take you to the phone so you can call the hospital."

My heart was now pounding, but the will to be calm took over. Woodenly, I followed this stranger to the distant telephone where I called the number he gave me for the Mission Hospital.

My call was put through to the trauma center where I learned that my three-year-old son had been trapped underneath the automatic garage door for several minutes, and that when my wife had found him he was dead. CPR had been performed by a neighbor, who is a doctor, and the paramedics had continued the treatment as Brian was transported to the hospital. By the time of my call, Brian was revived and they believed he would live, but they did not know how much damage had been done to his brain or to his heart.

They explained that the door had completely closed on his little sternum right over his heart. He had been severely crushed. After speaking with the medical staff, my wife sounded worried but not hysterical, and I took comfort in her calmness.

The return flight seemed to last forever, but finally I arrived at the hospital six hours after the garage door had come down. When I walked into the intensive care unit, nothing could have prepared me to see my little son laying so still on a great big bed with tubes and monitors everywhere.

He was on a respirator. I glanced at my wife who stood and tried to give me a reassuring smile. It all seemed like a terrible dream.

I was filled-in with the details and given a guarded prognosis. Brian was going to live, and the preliminary tests indicated that his heart was ok, two miracles in and of themselves. But only time would tell if his brain received any damage Throughout the seemingly endless hours, my wife was calm. She felt that Brian would eventually be all right. I hung on to her words and faith like a lifeline.

All that night and the next day Brian remained unconscious. It seemed like forever since I had left for my business trip the day before. Finally at two o'clock that afternoon, our son regained consciousness and sat up uttering the most beautiful words I have ever heard spoken. He said, "Daddy hold me" and he reached for me with his little arms.

By the next day he was pronounced as having no neurological or physical deficits, and the story of his miraculous survival spread throughout the hospital. You cannot imagine our gratitude and joy.

As we took Brian home we felt a unique reverence for the life and love of our Heavenly Father that comes to those who brush death so closely. In the days that followed there was a special spirit about our home. Our two older children were much closer to their little brother. My wife and I were much closer to each other, andall of us were very close as a whole family. Life took on a less stressful pace. Perspective seemed to be more focused, and balance much easier to gain and maintain. We felt deeply blessed. Our gratitude was truly profound.

The story is not over. Almost a month later to the day of the accident, Brian awoke from his afternoon nap and said, "Sit down, Mommy. I have something to tell you." At this time in his life, Brian usually spoke in small phrases, so to say a large sentence surprised my wife. She sat down with him on his bed and he began his sacred and remarkable story.

"Do you remember when I got stuck under the garage door? Well, it was so heavy and it hurt really bad. I called to you, but you couldn't hear me. I started to cry, but then it hurt too bad. And then the 'birdies' came."

"The birdies?" my wife asked puzzled.

"Yes," he replied. "The birdies made a whooshing sound and flew into the garage. They took care of me."

"They did?"

"Yes," he said. "One of the birdies came and got you. She came to tell you I got stuck under the door."

A sweet reverent feeling filled the room. The spirit was so strong and yet lighter than air. My wife realized that a three-year-old had no concept of death and spirits, so he was referring to the beings who came to him from beyond as "birdies" because they were up in the air like birds that fly.

"What did the birdies look like?" she asked.

Brian answered, "They were so beautiful. They were dressed in white, all white. Some of them had green and white. But some of them had on just white."

"Did they say anything?"

"Yes," he answered. "They told me the baby would be all right."

"The baby?" my wife asked confused.

Brian answered, "The baby laying on the garage floor."

He went on, "You came out and opened the garage door and ran to the baby. You told the baby to stay and not leave. "

My wife nearly collapsed upon hearing this, for she had indeed gone and knelt beside Brian's body and seeing his crushed chest and recognizable features, knowing he was already dead, she looked up around her and whispered, "Don't leave us Brian, please stay if you can." As she listened to Brian telling her the words she had spoken, she realized that the spirit had left his body and was looking down from above on his little lifeless form.

"Then what happened?" she asked.

"We went on a trip," he said, "far, far away." He grew agitated trying to say the things he didn't seem to have the words for. My wife tried to calm and comfort him, and let him know it would be okay. He struggled with wanting to tell something that obviously was very important to him, but finding the words was difficult.

"We flew so fast up in the air. They're so pretty Mommy," he added. "And there is lots and lots of birdies."

My wife was stunned. Into her mind the sweet comforting spirit enveloped Her more soundly, but with an urgency she had never before known. Brian went on to tell her that the "birdies" had told him that he had to come back and tell everyone about the "birdies".

He said they brought him back to the house and that a big fire truck, and an ambulance were there. A man was bringing the baby out on a white bed and he tried to tell the man that the baby would be okay, but the man couldn't hear him. He said the birdies told him he had to go with the ambulance, but they would be near him. He said they were so pretty and so peaceful, and he didn't want to come back.

Then the bright light came. He said that the light was so bright and so warm, and he loved the bright light so much. Someone was in the bright light and put their arms around him, and told him, "I love you but you have to go back. You have to play baseball, and tell everyone about the birdies." Then the person in the bright light kissed him and waved bye-bye. Then woosh, the big sound came and they went into the clouds.

The story went on for an hour. He taught us that "birdies" were always with us, but we don't see them because we look with our eyes and we don't hear them because we listen with our ears. But they are always there, you can only see them in here (he put his hand over his heart). They whisper the things to help us to do what is right because they love us so much.

Brian continued, stating, "I have a plan, Mommy. You have a plan. Daddy has a plan. Everyone has a plan. We must all live our plan and keep our promises. The birdies help us to do that cause they love us so much."

In the weeks that followed, he often came to us and told all, or part of it again and again. Always the story remained the same. The details were never changed or out of order. A few times he added further bits of information and clarified the message he had already delivered. It never ceased to amaze us how he could tell such detail and speak beyond his ability when he talked about his birdies. Everywhere he went, he told strangers about the "birdies."

Surprisingly, no one ever looked at him strangely when he did this. Rather, they always got a softened look on their face and smiled.

Needless to say, we have not been the same ever since that day, and I pray we never will be.

Provided by Mr. Lloyd Glenn, the father of little Brian.

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Revelations of Saint Gertrude

Chapter 11

She receives the gift of tears

and is warned of the snares which the demon has laid for her.

Since, Lord, Thou hast so often diversified the salutary taste of Thy presence and hast prevented my baseness so assiduously with the sweetness of Thy benedictions, especially during the first three years and more especially when I was admitted to the participation of thy adorable Body and Blood, since I can make no return to Thee for this, even by a single thanksgiving for a thousand favours, I remit the thanksgivings which I owe to that eternal, infinite and incommunicable gratitude by which, O ever-peaceful and resplendent Trinity, Thou dost fully satisfy all our debts of Thyself, by Thyself and in Thyself. And I, who am but dust, offer my thanksgivings to Thee, through Him who stands by Thee, clothed with my substance, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, for all the benefits which I have received from Thee, but principally, for having instructed my ignorance by so evident a sign, that Thou hast shown me clearly how I corrupt the purity of Thy gifts.

On one occasion, when I assisted at a Mass at which I was to communicate, I perceived that Thou wert present, by an admirable condescension, and that Thou didst use this similitude to instruct me, by appearing as if parched with thirst and desiring that I should give Thee to drink. While I was troubled thereat and could not even force a tear from my eyes, I beheld Thee presenting me with a golden cup with Thine own Hand. When I took it, my heart immediately melted into a torrent of fervent tears. Then I saw a certain despicable creature at my right hand, who was secretly putting something bitter and venomous into it and tempting me to put it in this cup. But as this was followed by an instant motion of vain-glory, I easily understood that it was a stratagem of that ancient enemy, who turns against us all his rage, when he sees us enriched with Thy gifts.

But thanks be to Thy faithfulness, my God, thanks to Thy protection, who art one and true God, Trinity in Unity, Unity in Trinity, who permittest not that we should be tempted beyond our strength, although Thou sometimes permittest us to be tempted for our advancement in virtue, and when Thou seest that we confide in Thee, Thou undertakest our cause, and, with boundless generosity, dost win the victory for us and then allow us the merit of it, if only we will to do right. Thou dost procure us this advantage to increase our merit, that, as Thou dost not permit our enemy to interfere with our free will, so neither dost Thou interfere with it Thyself in any way.

Thou didst teach me also, on another occasion, that to yield easily to the enemy makes him insolent in attacking us again on the same subject. Therefore Thy justice requires that Thou shouldst sometimes conceal the greatness of Thy mercy in pardoning our negligence, because we resist evil more certainly, more usefully, more efficaciously and more happily, when we resist it with all our might.

Chapter 12

With how much goodness God bears our faults.

I render Thee thanks also for another revelation, which was no less advantageous and acceptable to me, by which I was shown with what benign patience Thou dost bear our defects, that, by correcting us thus, Thou mightest insure our happiness. For one evening, having allowed myself to give way to anger, and on the following morning, before break of day, finding myself disposed to pray, Thou didst present Thyself to me under so strange a form, that it seemed to me on beholding Thee that Thou wert not only deprived of all kind of good, but even of strength. Then, my conscience being touched for my past fault, I began to reflect with grief how improper a thing it had been for me to trouble the Supreme Author of peace and purity by my ill-regulated passion. I thought it would have been better that Thou shouldst have been absent from me when I failed to repel Thine enemy, while he solicited me to do that which was so contrary to Thy will.

Thou didst apply this to me: "Even as a poor invalid who has been brought out to enjoy the sunshine by the assistance of others, with much difficulty, when he sees a storm coming on, has no other consolation than the hope of soon seeing fine weather again, --thus, under the influence of your love, I prefer dwelling with you in all the tempests of vice, hoping to behold the calm of your amendment, and to see you enter the port of humility."

Since my tongue is too feeble to explain the abundance of the graces which thou didst pour forth on me during the three entire days in which this apparition lasted, permit, O my God, that my heart may supply for its weakness, and teach me how to render a thanksgiving of gratitude for the depth of the humility to which Thy love then abased itself for this charity, so amazing and so tender, which Thou hast for us.

Chapter 13

Of the necessity of exact vigilance over the senses and affections. (To be continued)

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